Yet another Monday (Jan 23, 2012)

Sheila @ Book Journey wants to know what we're reading. I'm only too happy to oblige!

So far this year, I've been reading slower and been more thoughtful while reading. I like it this way, because I appreciate the time and thought I've been putting into choosing a book to read. They may not turn out to be five-star reads (In fact, I've only had 1 four-star and two 3-star reads so far), but all three books left me feeling satisfied at the end, a feeling that doesn't always come to me. Moreover, since I'm not planning my reading in advance anymore (at least I haven't so far this year), I probably have only one book going at a time. Right now, it is Tayari Jones' Silver Sparrow, a candidate for the Indie Lit Awards in Fiction category. I'm enjoying it, but there won't be any of my thoughts published on the blog until the winner is announced.

Which pages were turned...

  Lately, I've been in mood for some short fiction, a medium that I used to shun previously, simply because the brevity usually left much to be desired for me to sufficiently enjoy the read. So far, this month, I've tried two short stories, both available in the public domain - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (read my review) and Hell-Heaven by Jhumpa Lahiri from her short story collection, Unaccustomed Earth (will be posting the review next week). I've enjoyed both, so I will keep looking out for more short stories. But I doubt I'll be reading an entire collection anytime soon.
  Last week, I read Banana Yoshimoto's The Lake - my first read by this author. Can't say I was impressed - I'll be posting my review next week, after I have thought more about it.

...And other news
  In case you missed, here are my 2011 favorites and plans for 2012.
  My guest post on Marjane Satrapi's Best and Worst over at Alyce's At Home with Books.
  A potpourri of random thoughts that I wanted to talk about over the past few weeks.